Summary:
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The national route number 27 in the region of Djugu has seen a substantial improvement in security in Ituri.
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Not every visitor to the Fataki facility resides close to the MONUSCO camp.
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Commercial activity has returned MONUSCO team will meet with tradespeople and women at the Fataki market on Thursday morning.
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He asserts that the FARDC and blue helmets are related to the restoration of economic activity in the region. “
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In contrast to Ituri, where we are dealing with interethnic violence, the MONUSCO challenge in North and South Kivu is regional.
The national route number 27 in the region of Djugu has seen a substantial improvement in security in Ituri. For the safety of motorists, national army forces are stationed along this 90-kilometre stretch of road from Bunia, the province’s capital, to the community of Fataki. MONUSCO blue helmets organize patrols there frequently to boost population security.
The result is that trucks are carrying products, and public transportation travels freely along a stretch of the route that attacks by Codeco militiamen previously characterized. Pedestrians and motorcyclists can now cross almost safely, including students who must walk several kilometres to get to class.
Daily patrols for the safety of civilians
In Djaiba, 6 kilometres from Fataki, a base of the Nepalese blue helmets has been established. They patrol the Lodda displaced persons camp twice daily; Lodda is around 6 kilometres from their base. They go back there in the evening. Additionally, they can be found in the general hospital, the Catholic parish, or the Fataki Center. The militias frequently attack these locations.
Some displaced people who had fled the area months or even years ago are now returning to their home settlements, feeling reassured by the presence of national security personnel and UN peacekeepers.
The MONUSCO action in May 2022 received praise
Since March 16, 2022, Father Jean Lojunga has been the parish priest for the Catholic parish of Fataki. He was travelling back to Dhera, 20 kilometres from Fataki, after a motorbike competition on Wednesday, October 12. He says he hasn’t seen any security incidents on the way on either the outbound or return trips. He claims he cannot recall the last time he heard a gunshot here, providing evidence that the local security situation has improved.
The Catholic priest praised the FARDC and MONUSCO blue helmets’ excellent cooperation, which is the root of this progress. He expresses gratitude for the MONUSCO blue helmets’ efforts to bring peace to this region.
“They defend the entire neighbourhood, including us.” The attackers murdered 14 refugees in the Lodda camp last May. There would have been actual bloodshed if MONUSCO blue helmets hadn’t intervened. There is a fair amount of tranquillity here. People travel up to 6 km from the city centre for farming operations. In the afternoon, they return relatively close to the MONUSCO military base, where they feel protected, according to Reverend Lojunga.
“We have complete faith in MONUSCO.”
Not every visitor to the Fataki facility resides close to the MONUSCO camp. The city enters nightfall at 6 o’clock. There, it is very black. MONUSCO built a few solar panels to light up the city’s little roundabout, doubling as a shopping area as part of its initiative to lessen intercommunity violence. About fifty people come and go; some are setting up in front of tiny shops while others are coming back from the fields at this late hour.
Since many months ago, there have been many fewer incidences here. We used to record multiple cases per day, but the security situation significantly improved after CODECO signed the unilateral act of commitment for the cessation of hostilities. Look at the time right now. Everything came to an end at 4:30–5:00 pm. Another reason is that people in this area trust MONUSCO blue helmets, according to a guy who was interviewed by a MONUSCO team in Fataki.
Commercial activity has returned
The MONUSCO team will meet with tradespeople and women at the Fataki market on Thursday morning. Even though it is not market day, several sellers are busily selling their produce. Some men claim to have travelled fifteen kilometres to sell their farm goods without encountering any problems.
A trader, Jean Vianney Bambusombo, is 57 years old. He asserts that the FARDC and blue helmets are related to the restoration of economic activity in the region. “I would argue that economic activity has recovered to 60%. I think the situation would be disastrous if MONUSCO were not here. In contrast to Ituri, where we are dealing with interethnic violence, the MONUSCO challenge in North and South Kivu is regional. If you ask the locals in this area what they think of MONUSCO, they would likely tell you that it is essential because everyone would have moved away without it and the FARDC. For peace to return for good, “we want to see all these weapons in circulation seized,” he says.
Mama Béatrice Madasi, the executive director of the Fataki-based Association for the Promotion of Maternal and Infant Supervision (APEMI), is pleased that MONUSCO frequently plans events for social cohesion in which all of the populations residing in Fataki participate.
Football games, plays, cultural dances, and female leadership development programmes taught us how to care for ourselves, etc. Here in Fataki, MONUSCO and I have an excellent working relationship. Today, she says, women can cultivate our crops safely from several kilometres away.
Mrs. Madasi thus extends an invitation to those who have sought safety in Bunia and other locations to return to their hometowns.
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Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
